6 ms·

It's still proprietary software. Why would I use this instead of Libreoffice?

Pxtl 13y ago
Because web? Can I open my LibreOffice documents from a new machine without even installing an app? Obviously there are reasons to use LibreOffice, like you said. But don't try to pretend there's no reason to use Google's office suite over LibreOffice.
- icebraining 13y ago
  "Beginning with Version 3.5 LibreOffice can be launched as a web server. This allows using LibreOffice online within a web browser." https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Using_LibreOffice_in_a_Web_Browser https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Using_LibreOffice_in_a_W...
  - Pxtl 13y ago
    Neato. Does it lock or allow concurrent simultaneous editing? Does OwnCloud integrate LibreOffice yet? A one-stop locally-hosted OSS Google Drive replacement would be nifty.
    - g8oz 13y ago
      Check out WebODF
FigBug 13y ago
It is convenient. But I am surprised so many people are willing to put their business's data into a spreadsheet where they can't even get the native files. If this takes off it's going to be lock in 100x worse than Excel ever was.
- DominikR 13y ago
  You can export Google spreadsheets in multiple formats (Microsoft Excel, OpenDocument format and so on)
- RokStdy 13y ago
  Why? If you can get your data out as CSV? How are you locked in at all, or at least, any more than with Microsoft? p.s. According to a sheet I have saved I can download my info as: .xlsx .ods (OpenDocument Format) .pdf .csv .txt .html
  - FigBug 13y ago
    When documents are converted formats features, formatting etc will be lost. If you export everything as CSV you loose all your formulas etc. xlsx and ods are better, but not perfect. If you could export all your documents in the native format and import them into LibreOffice you'd still lose features, but as LibreOffice improved it's import you'd lose less. With convert at export data is permanently lost. With convert at import, no data lost permanently lost, it just may not be currently available. Also if you could backup in native format you could import into a google account if your first account is blocked/lost, instead you have to go through the import/export conversion twice. Also, with Excel, once you have a computer running Windows / Excel, you can't lose data if a feature is changed / dropped. Just don't upgrade. With Google Docs, you have no choice to upgrade to the latest version. It may not even be a dropped feature, you spreadsheets may accidentally rely on a buggy feature, and when it's fixed your spreadsheets behave differently with no warning.
kyrra 13y ago
For me: collaboration. For personal stuff, I can create small sheets and share with family. They will be updates instantly. For work: we use google spreadsheet for a lot of different status reporting. Allowing multiple people to edit it at once (and view all the changes immediately) can be really nice for certain use cases.

Pxtl 13y ago

Because web? Can I open my LibreOffice documents from a new machine without even installing an app? Obviously there are reasons to use LibreOffice, like you said. But don't try to pretend there's no reason to use Google's office suite over LibreOffice.

icebraining 13y ago
"Beginning with Version 3.5 LibreOffice can be launched as a web server. This allows using LibreOffice online within a web browser." https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Using_LibreOffice_in_a_Web_Browser https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Using_LibreOffice_in_a_W...
- Pxtl 13y ago
  Neato. Does it lock or allow concurrent simultaneous editing? Does OwnCloud integrate LibreOffice yet? A one-stop locally-hosted OSS Google Drive replacement would be nifty.
  - g8oz 13y ago
    Check out WebODF

FigBug 13y ago

It is convenient. But I am surprised so many people are willing to put their business's data into a spreadsheet where they can't even get the native files. If this takes off it's going to be lock in 100x worse than Excel ever was.

DominikR 13y ago
You can export Google spreadsheets in multiple formats (Microsoft Excel, OpenDocument format and so on)
RokStdy 13y ago
Why? If you can get your data out as CSV? How are you locked in at all, or at least, any more than with Microsoft? p.s. According to a sheet I have saved I can download my info as: .xlsx .ods (OpenDocument Format) .pdf .csv .txt .html
- FigBug 13y ago
  When documents are converted formats features, formatting etc will be lost. If you export everything as CSV you loose all your formulas etc. xlsx and ods are better, but not perfect. If you could export all your documents in the native format and import them into LibreOffice you'd still lose features, but as LibreOffice improved it's import you'd lose less. With convert at export data is permanently lost. With convert at import, no data lost permanently lost, it just may not be currently available. Also if you could backup in native format you could import into a google account if your first account is blocked/lost, instead you have to go through the import/export conversion twice. Also, with Excel, once you have a computer running Windows / Excel, you can't lose data if a feature is changed / dropped. Just don't upgrade. With Google Docs, you have no choice to upgrade to the latest version. It may not even be a dropped feature, you spreadsheets may accidentally rely on a buggy feature, and when it's fixed your spreadsheets behave differently with no warning.

kyrra 13y ago

For me: collaboration. For personal stuff, I can create small sheets and share with family. They will be updates instantly. For work: we use google spreadsheet for a lot of different status reporting. Allowing multiple people to edit it at once (and view all the changes immediately) can be really nice for certain use cases.